What did you do in the garden today?

[jerryse]

Have not seen the sun in 4 days. Should see some sun today. Ordered a firepit Qzark trail for my Christmas present. A Solo stove knockoff.

 

[Sally PB]

Have not seen the sun in 4 days. Should see some sun today.

I know what you mean. I think the sun might, might peak in on us on Thursday.

In January/February, the weather crew will tell us how many days we've gone with 0% possible sunshine. Sometimes it's over 2 weeks.

 

[Acre4Me]

My daughter ( who I am proud to say got the thrifty gene) managers an apartment property in Boulder CO. She planted some potato vine in her flower pots for color and this fall when the grounds keeper dug up pots she said " Wait save those I'll take them home" When we were leaving from our visit to her she presented these cold muddy enormous buggers to me . I said sure if nothing else the chooks or dogs will eat them. Well I cooked one forever! and viola it was white inside? tastes good but confused my brain. That is a 8x8 pan! well to this Midwest lady I just didn't know they come in any color but orange?! It's like eating a russet until you start eating. It's like that game at baby showers when they dye baby food and you have to guess what it is.
View attachment 3697477

I know what you mean! The white ones are pretty good! But, I'm partial to the orange ones. We have also grown purple ones....white ones with purple skin and all purple ones. And when I say purple, they are super saturated deep purple. I didn't care for them as much, but the purple variety was a drier sweet potato and that is partially why I didn't like them.

 

[karenerwin]

I bought this for my daughter a month ago at Sam’s club.

 

[gtaus]

Question on sub-irrigated/Heugel pots.

Instead of using drainpipe or plastic bottles, if you put wood in the bottom of a sub-irrigated pot system, and the wood sits in water, but you still have a good 1 inch of air gap between the water level and the level of the potting soil, will the water with wood sitting in it become rancid and kill the plants in the pot?

I ask this because I have made sub-irrigated planters using drainpipes, and that works great. I have made hügelkultur beds but the water is allowed to drain through the bottom of the bed. That works.

But I have never considered using wood instead of drainpipes in a water reservoir system like in sub-irrigated planters. I have been looking online for anybody using such a hybrid system, but can't find any info, good or bad. I have all kinds of wood to use, so a hybrid system, if it works, would be great. But if the reason nobody does it is because the water in the reservoir with the wood becomes toxic, I don't want to waste a growing season just trying it out if someone already knows if that system would not work.

Thanks for any help.

 

[1cock2hens]

Got 6 hazelnut seedlings about an hour ago. Im very excited about them. I got pots ready today I just need to find a place for the pots.

I noticed using cloth pots for the first few years increases the rate of growth compared to trees potted straight into the ground. Anyone else notice this?

 

[Sally PB]

Japanese beetles killed my hazelnut trees...

That's why I have made myself a one-woman JB eradicating force in the months of July and August.

 

[1cock2hens]

O

Japanese beetles killed my hazelnut trees...

That's why I have made myself a one-woman JB eradicating force in the months of July and August.

Oof. I'm very hands on and touch everything I have potted daily so fingers crossed I can avoid those kinds of losses.

I'm going to order more praying mantis egg sacks than I normally do(5 instead of 2) and see if I notice a difference then years before

 

[Sally PB]

I never noticed JBs until one year. My hazelnut trees had some. Oh, what's that bug? And in a week, the leaves were skeletonized. They regrew the next year. The JBs came back. I treated with Bt to kill the grubs. Too late.

I didn't get many nuts; the squirrels would get them before they were mature. Dang. They're my favorite tree nut, too.

 

[1cock2hens]

I never noticed JBs until one year. My hazelnut trees had some. Oh, what's that bug? And in a week, the leaves were skeletonized. They regrew the next year. The JBs came back. I treated with Bt to kill the grubs. Too late.

I didn't get many nuts; the squirrels would get them before they were mature. Dang. They're my favorite tree nut, too.

We really don't have many either normally but you never know what the year will bring.

Hazelnuts are my favorite too, fingers crossed the next 4/5 years go well and I get some future bumper crops. I hunt my squirrel so none of those near the house lol I have to worry about goats though